WHOOOP! It's the Easter holiday! And craaaap! I have a ton of revision to do. Ah well, at least Skye doesn't have to go to school. Lucky mutt.

The door slammed into the wall of the cabin with enough force to rattle the windows. A fraction more pressure, and I might have torn it off its hinges. Rhys was standing in an instant, reaching for my shoulder. I shrugged him off and stormed into the bedroom, where Cassidy was sat up in bed, still looking half asleep.

But she seemed fairly wide awake when I dragged her off the mattress by her throat. In the blink of an eye, my switchblade was lodged under her chin with enough force to break the skin. Rhys snarled but froze in his tracks halfway across the room, not daring to risk another step when I could open his mate's carotid with a flick of my wrist.

"Skye," he choked out. "What...?"

I ignored him and turned my attention to the human in front of me, who was doing her best to hide her shaking. "You have exactly five seconds to convince me not to kill you. And I'm only giving you that long for my brother's sake."

To her unending credit, Cassidy didn't beg or snivel at me. With that unflinching calmness, she spoke gently but firmly. "You don't seem like the sort of person to kill someone without telling them what they're supposed to have done."

I chose to ignore that statement, because she was right. "Did you know about werewolves before you met us?"

"No."

There was no elaboration or excuse, just what felt like simple, honest truth. Had I been wrong about this?

"Skye..." Rhys seemed to regain some of his control. "You're scaring her, so I really hope you have a good reason to be doing this."

His way of telling me that he was on my side, mate or no mate. I acknowledged him by letting up the pressure on my switchblade. Just so his wolf would calm down. There was already a spot of blood on her neck — it would be awkward to kill her by accident.

"Have you seen Skye?" Leo's voice demanded. A moment later, he reached the doorway, and I heard a sharp intake of breath, followed shortly by a resigned sigh.

"What did she do?" he asked.

I flicked my eyes towards him. Leo was standing alongside Rhys, hands in his pockets. He didn't look panicked, but he did have one eye on my brother.

"Cassidy's father is a hunter. Might be she is as well."

Rhys made an abrupt choking sound and sat down on the bed close to me. Leo, however, looked unimpressed. "Is she armed?"

I used my free hand to pat down her sides and anywhere a weapon could be easily concealed. Nothing ... at least, nothing that would be big enough to do serious damage. I shook my head.

"Then is it possible to have this conversation in a civilised manner? She's outnumbered three to one by werewolves: I don't see much risk in letting her breathe," he suggested.

I considered her for a moment. "Alright. Try anything and you won't live to regret it, Cassie."

I allowed her to sit up, albeit grudgingly, and then I took my place between the boys. All three of us stared her down as she began talking.

"You're right, my dad is a hunter. He goes out deer hunting with my uncles almost weekly. But if it's animal rights you're arguing for, they've never even managed to catch one. I don't see why that's so upsetting..."

Complete and utter ignorance. Hard to feign and harder to make up on the spot. It was starting to look like she might just be a human girl with an unfortunate family. I said, "It's not deer he hunts, it's werewolves. Us."

Cassidy stared at me, completely dumbfounded for the first time. "What...? Why would anyone want to hunt you?"

"Because they think we're bloodthirsty monsters out to destroy humanity. Nothing personal," Rhys answered. "They'd drive us extinct if they could."

"You really didn't know, did you?" I added.

She shook her head, one hand reaching up to wipe away a trickle of blood.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Sorry, then. About the knife and everything. We've just had pretty terrible experiences with hunters."

"Your dad ... where is he now?" Leo asked.

"What, so you can kill him?" she snapped.

I growled long and low. "We would be well within our rights, but no."

Rhys stood up suddenly, strategically placing himself between us. "This conversation can wait until we've all had some food. Maybe then we'll be able to act like reasonable human beings."

Cassidy raised an eyebrow at the human part. I threw myself at her, only to be thwarted by a combination of Rhys's timely interception and Leo lunging for me. Caught between the two boys, the anger suddenly drained out of me. Only a hundred feet away were nearly a dozen fully grown hunters, and I was wasting my time attacking the only person in this room who didn't have blood on her hands.

I shoved Rhys's chest to make him release me and shook off Leo. Both of them were watching me like I was time bomb that could go off at any moment. Shrugging off the stares, I span on my heels and stormed back outside to kill someone who really deserved it.

But even as I shifted on the walkway, common sense started to kick in. I could slaughter all of them here and now and send a clear message to Malcolm. Or I could follow them back to their leader and scorch the entire nest. When I put it like that, the answer seemed obvious.

My wolf broke into a slow lope, not caring who saw. I could pass for a dog from a distance — my dark pelt helped with that. She took control as we padded our way down the staircase and stopped outside the building the hunters had stayed in. They had left minutes ago, but the scent was still fresh. Annoyingly, they had taken a car. I wouldn't be able to keep up that sort of speed for very long.

The sound of an engine revving drew me out of my thoughts. Leo moved fast, I had to admit. The car was ready, with Rhys, Cassidy and all of our bags inside. I jumped onto the back seat, avoiding Cassidy's gaze. She could be upset with me all she wanted, as long as it didn't get in the way. We hadn't had a chance like this in a long time.

Leo stepped on the accelerator the moment Rhys pulled the door shut behind me. We zipped onto the main road, and once the windows were rolled down, we could take the turns by scent. After breaking the speed limit for a few minutes, we caught sight of their cars. Three of them — all with tinted windows and off-road tyres.

Our car was a little less conspicuous, so we could follow without attracting undue attention. Well, except for the massive black wolf on the back seat. I stayed lying down, and I kept very still, but I was still beginning to wish I hadn't shifted.

It was a long journey, deep into the heart of the Silverstones. We were perhaps ten miles from Lle o Dristwch when they turned off the main road. Did Malcolm really imagine he could hide so close to us and go undetected? Or did he intend to be found? The latter seemed more likely. It made me even angrier. If he wanted us to find him, he clearly wasn't afraid of us.

The hunters drove for half an hour straight, often breaking the speed limit. They were in a hurry — that much was obvious. Leo stayed a safe distance behind, often dropping behind at the corners. The journey wasn't very comfortable for the rest of us. There wasn't much room in the back seat of the car, so I ended up lying half across Rhys with my head far too close to Cassidy for her liking. The front seat was piled high with luggage, so there was no escape. For her sake, I kept my mouth firmly shut.

I knew I should apologise again. It might help convince her I wasn't about to kill her. We were driving towards the danger, not away from it, so trust was important. I could admit that much. So I spoke to Rhys through the link and let him be my mouthpiece.

"Skye says she's sorry ... again. Her temper got the better of her, but she wouldn't really have killed you, I don't think. Anyway, what's she's trying to say is she won't ever do it again."

"Um, hold up a second. How is Skye saying anything at all?" Cassidy asked.

I snorted, flashing her a broad grin. Just like us to take the mind-link for granted. This time, I projected my thoughts directly into her mind. "We can have mental conversations. It helps us communicate in wolf form."

Cassidy flinched at the sound of my voice. Still present in her mind, I could hear lyrics playing. Get along with the voices inside of my head. This girl...I swear to the Goddess. Could nothing daunt her?

"Well then. I'm sorry too, Skye, for everything my father has done and will do to your people. No hard feelings about earlier," she said aloud.

I had barely known this girl for twenty-four hours, and she was fast becoming one of the most adaptable and sensible people I had ever met. Were all humans this chill? Were all of them this unfazed by danger? It seemed unlikely.

The brakes slammed on suddenly and the car lurched to a stop. Without a seatbelt, I was thrown against the passenger seat. I let out a sharp yip as pain lanced through my shoulder and side. Rhys swore under his breath as he carefully lifted my wolf from where I had fallen and laid me out on the back seat again.

"Crap. I'm sorry, Skye," Leo murmured. He was already slamming on the reverse, taking us back the way we'd come. "There's a police blockade ahead. It looks like they're searching the cars. And you two—" he glanced at Rhys and me pointedly "—are wanted for mass murder."

"Did they see you stop?" I asked through the link, without waiting for Cassidy's reaction. The pain was receding fast, but it still felt like I had fallen several metres onto solid concrete.

"Don't think so," Leo said. "We'll park a safe distance away, shift and follow them. The hunters just turned down a farm track, so it can't be far now."

The car pulled up gently at the side of the road. As soon as Rhys opened a door, I scrambled past him to jump out. The feeling of grass under my paws was a lot more reassuring, even if standing up made my shoulder scream in agony. Stupid bloody cars. They were more trouble than they were worth.

Rhys shifted and jumped out beside me. His wolf greeted me with a sniff and a nudge of his muzzle, careful not to jostle the wounded shoulder. I answered him in much the same way. Leo had yet to shift — he was regarded Cassidy with folded arms. "I didn't really think this through. She can't shift."

"I can just sit in the car," Cassidy suggested.

But Rhys threw me a pleading look. He couldn't leave his mate alone and defenceless, not so close to Malcolm and the territories of half a dozen packs. Someone would need to stay with her ... the only question would be who.

Leo seemed like the obvious choice. He hadn't shifted yet and having a bodyguard with clothes on was always a bonus. He didn't have as much experience sneaking around as Rhys and me. It made so much sense that I gave him the stay here glare before trying to run off into the trees. But my shoulder burned with cold fire, and my front leg caved in after only a few steps. I ended up lying awkwardly on the ground, while Rhys stood over me, looking very unimpressed.

"We'll see you later, Skye," he said through the link. "Look after Cass, please."

"Oh, hell no!" I complained. I wasn't suited for waiting quietly.

"You're in no shape to be running through the woods," Leo told me.

I tried to get up again, but Rhys blocked my path. I growled deep in my throat. "You're both on your way to becoming dog meat. Get the hell out of my way."

Neither of them paid me any mind. Rhys had backed away a few steps, so my teeth couldn't reach him, and Leo was taking his jacket off, ready to shift. "We'll just scout — that's all. Nothing thrilling."

It was true that I didn't like scouting, but it was still hard to imagine them following the hunters without me. But the moment I tried to put weight on my shoulder, I bit back a yelp. I would only slow them down. And besides, it would heal faster if I rested it. Perhaps, if it healed fast enough, I could take Cassidy for a nice stroll in the woods, without the fussing of my little brother and my mate.

Hmm ... tempting.

"Okay, boys," I began in my most sarcastic voice. "Follow them — nothing more. Don't let them see you. And certainly don't kill any of them. Got it?"

"Got it," Leo agreed.

"It would be our pleasure, Luna," Rhys replied with a grin.

I flopped onto my belly and watched them disappear into the trees. Rhys took lead spot by right of— Well, I had never actually seen them fight in wolf form, but we could all guess who would win. Once the two boys were out of sight, I waited a minute or two, because surely that was long enough for my shoulder to heal ... right? And then I turned to Cassidy with a mischievous smile and reached into her mind.

"I don't suppose you fancy an adventure?"

She shared my amusement. "Why not?"